Day 72 and 73- 8/19 and 8/20

Well, thus ends the photo a day blog. My summer with smirkus has come to an end. The end of an era, but also the beginning of a new adventure. I am putting these last two days together because the night between them consisted of less than 4 hours of sleep, so they feel like the same day. Our last shows went amazingly well- my best friend Emma got to see me perform in the matinee, and there was an entire alumni section of bleachers at the evening show. I couldn't believe how incredible the crowd was, and of course I cried throughout the whole last show. After a mini teardown, we had a party in the ring and then spent the night adventuring around and making pancakes at 4 in the morning. Pick up in the morning was weird because we were all going to see each other again in a few hours for the alumni show and banquet (both of which were remarkably fun, despite the lack of sleep). goodbyes were hard, but I know I'll see all of my smirko family down the road.
Photos of the day(s): Emma, Magnus and Joel Grey; poster signing in the big top; pie car pancakes at 4am.

Day 71- 8/18

This morning, the senior troupers and I worked to make each first year trouper superlatives (essentially paper plate awards, for all you Y-co folk). They each got one serious award and one silly one, highlighting the greatest parts of having them on tour. These were given out at Final Council just before lunch. Final Council is the most sad and overwhelming part of smirkus tour to be sure, but it is also an important closure for us. Each of the senior troupers got to speak a little bit, and I think I was able to successfully articulate what it has meant to me to be a part of such an amazing troupe. Then, off to do two more shows!! They went well and I took a bunch of photos of backstage for you to enjoy: Gunna, our backstage intern in her natural habitat, and some performers hanging out during the show.

Day 70- 8/17

So on our last jump day (sob) we had the second annual Smirkus Scavenger hunt!!! It included many things, like a pyramid with a stranger and as many 25s as possible. I was on team Vanielle for the second year in a row, and we successfully had the most fun while collecting the most points. No big deal. (we're kind of a big deal). At the end of the day, we saw the Advanced camp show and then went home to greensboro and loaded in to our final site! It was an amazing day and I can't imagine a better group of people to be spending the last few days of my summer with than the 2012 troupers!!

Day 69- 8/16

Today was a fantastic day with some great shows topped off by an incredibly fast teardown!! Notable alumni at today's show included Eric Bates (who now works for the 7 fingers) and Bret Pfister (arguably the best aerial hoop artist of all time). We finished teardown in 46 minutes, which is the fastest time in 4 years (I think). I shed a few tears of joy when we finished... No joke. We got to help tent crew while we waited for our homestays, so here are some photos of the day from that experience, including tent stakes and the empty tent.

Day 68- 8/15

Today was just fantastic. Shows went very well (Olivia, Bekk and Ezra are all back in the show, almost entirely!) and the Montpelier audience was incredible!!! Smirkus camp came to the evening show and brought so much energy and enthusiasm we almost couldn't handle ourselves! We also had a visit from Owen, who graduated last year, which was awesome! It was great having him in the audience!! Also, today was end of tour evaluations, which went overwhelmingly well on all counts. The photo of the day is Owen hanging out between shows

Day 67- 8/14

We had a very long jump to Montpelier today, but it was totally worth it because now we are back in Vermont!!!! The air is cleaner and the grass is greener, and we all feel like we are home again! For our jump day activity, we went to Morse Farm (a maple sugar farm) and had a picnic and maple creemees! Yum! My homestay is with Isa's cousins, so it's a really chill and welcoming family. We watched Meet the Parents tonight after dinner overlooking a giant pasture. There was a special guest appearance by a mama deer and her two babies in the field during dinner! Here are some photos of the day!

Day 66- 8/13

Today's shows went pretty well, except for some reason my 5 clubs was not happening. But I'm fine with that, because it means that our Montpelier shows will be better. In between shows today we played kickball- Staff versus Troupers. Staff won, but it was still fun. I caught two kicks in the far outfield which was exciting. Then, after teardown, Emily and my homestay took us to a little seafood and burger place called Kelly's on revere beach. It was fun and we got to just relax and have fun with our homestay before leaving tomorrow. The photos of the day are from kickball- Keenan running to first base like an Egyptian, and Aly pitching with Magnus and I in the background.